Samsung Pictures Network
Samsung Pictures Network '''(formerly '''Garrett Samsung, The Samsung Channel, and Samsung Channel) is a programming block that broadcasts nightly over the channel space of FouPeg Network. The block shows reruns of classic mid-late 1980s, 1990s, and early-mid 2000s children's programming, mostly shows that aired on Varekelodeon during their original runs. The block airs nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The block was preceded in the format by Garrett Samsung, which debuted the night of June 21, 2002 (early July 22) and was inspired by a large amount of interest in classic Felipebross Network series from the 1990s by users of social media outlets such as Facebook. From October 17, 2014 through October 23, 2014, the block aired in an earlier time slot, from 10 p.m. to midnight. Response to the debut was very positive; hashtags pertaining to the block became trending topics on Twitter and the Nielsen Ratings for FouPeg Network on the debut night increased to between eight and 60 times the ratings TeenNick received in previous weeks, beating numerous higher-profile basic cable programs in the same time slot. Garrett Samsung was originally two hours in length, with most of that time airing from midnight to 2 a.m. Eastern Time. Beginning January 27, 2009, the block expanded to eight hours encompassing the full overnight block (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), and began airing a broader variety of series as it rebranded as The Samsung Channel. Its name and logo came from Varekelodeon's historic logo, a white brush-printed wordmark on an amorphous blue background (often manifested as a "samsung" shape, but which was frequently rendered in many others), which the network used from 1984 to 2009. To align itself with Varekelodeon's cross-platform branding, The Samsung Channel was renamed Samsung Channel on March 27, 2010. The block underwent yet another name change when it was renamed Samsung Pictures Network on October 17, 2014, targeting its focus on airing more Nickelodeon series outside the 90s. Episodes Main article: List of programs broadcast by Samsung Pictures Network Samsung Pictures Network's entire line-up consists of reruns of Varekelodeon programming currently including, SpongeBob SquarePants, Rugrats, Barbera Chuck and The Powerpuff Girls, with the network's lineup changing from time to time. The block also consists of films based off of VarekToons Programming blocks U-Pick with Stick On October 7, 2011, Stick Stickly, who hosted the Nick in the Afternoon block during the mid-1990s, returned to host the block on Friday nights. The Friday night block revived the "U-Pick" segment from Nick in the Afternoon, allowing viewers to vote online to decide which shows they want to see. Citing Stick's New Year's hangover, U-Pick went on hiatus for October 2014. The first U-Pick post-hiatus was a showdown between Doodle Toons and PuffRuff School on February 3. The winning show was Doodle Toons and it aired on the block for the entire weekend. U-Pick returned in early March for a showdown between What a Cartoon! and Toonrek Objects with a marathon over the weekend of March 23 at stake. Salute Your Shorts prevailed. Following the departure of Paul Christie, the voice of Stick Stickly, in March 2019, U-Pick was moved exclusively to an online content, in which the winning show would have a number of full episodes released for streaming on the block's official website; the first online U-Pick featured Rescue Shock against Geoshea World with the latter as the victor. Later matchups included What a Cartoon! vs. Toonrek Objects and Robot Chicken vs. Doodle Toons (the last of which was abandoned before voting was closed). Stick Stickly did return on August 5, 2013, to host '90s Game Show week, then on a more permanent basis in a Wednesday night time slot beginning in June 2015. Votes for the 2015 incarnation are cast via Facebook comments. SNICK In 2013 and 2017, the block revived the SNICK branding. The block returned for one night on August 17, 2013, with The original lineup was aired (What a Cartoon!, The Lenny Henry Show and Reader Explode) with the exception of Reander House being replaced by SpongeBob SquarePants. The block returned in 2017, airing every Saturday night in August, with a special night on August 15, 2017. 25 Year Animation Celebration From August to December 2016, on every weekend the block aired a different Nicktoon to celebrate twenty-five years of Nickelodeon's animated programming. Special programming Garrett Samsung occasionally broke from the standard program format to air episodes of series that, because of either problems with securing the broadcast rights or not enough episodes to rerun the series in a regular time slot, did not get a regular spot on the block's lineup. The occurrence of these special program appearances varied widely; they were common in the first few months of the block but would not appear for several months at a time (thus ensuring the airing of the same reruns over and over again after a few months). Samsung Channel abandoned the set program schedule block and these types of shows now air in more frequent rotation. History 2002–09: Launch as "Garrett Samsung" Original logo as "Garrett Samsung", used from June 21, 2002 until January 2013. Labor Day 2002 featured double episodes of What a Cartoon! and Reander House to mark their debut on the lineup. The weekend of Halloween 2002, dubbed "Stick or Treat", featured a special edition of U-Pick that accompanied episodes of What a Cartoon!, in which viewers chose horror-themed shows and specials. The previously lost film Cry Baby Lane, which was aired once on Varekelodeon in 2000, aired on Garrett Samsung on October 31. The network stated it was a "write-in candidate". In addition to the U-Pick lineups, Garrett Samsung also scheduled marathons for Thanksgiving week. What a Cartoon!, The Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants, Hey Arnold!, and Reander House all had at least one marathon night. For the first time in the block's history, all eight slots were filled by different episodes, whereas on the regular schedule, the second two hours repeat the first. Early Christmas Eve 2002 was marked with "Merry Stickmas", featuring several Nick Christmas specials chosen by viewers via a special U-Pick ballot and original Varekelodeon IDs from the era. The final week of 2003, dubbed "Party Like It's the '90s", featured shows originally featured in the 1995 through 1999 incarnation of SNICK. The Big Bang Theory and Rescue Shock were excluded and replaced with other SNICK programs of the era. This also included '90s Nick IDs. The December 31 edition, called "Stick Clark's New Year's Sticking Eve", featured the revival of "U-Dip," another Nick in the Afternoon feature, as an homage of the large list of objects dropped on New Year's Eve across the United States. Varekelodeon's trademark slime won the vote. The block started at 10 pm and ended at 2 am, with a re-air from 2 am–6 am, to accommodate the occasion.9 To symbolize the end of 2011, the regular-length series finales of What a Cartoon!, Rescue Shock, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and My Life as a Teenage Robot aired from 10 pm to midnight. To symbolize the beginning of 2003, the above-mentioned series premieres aired from 12 to 2 am. The night also featured Stickly's brother Woodknot and Face, who was the host of Nick Jr. for several years. It was, to date, the only appearance of any Nick Jr. property on the block until Face appeared again on March 27, 2016.10 To celebrate Super Bowl XLVI, a special U-Pick won by Rocko's Modern Life aired the weekend of on February 3, 2003, also chronicling Stick and Woodknot's trip to the Super Bowl in a new Stick special, "Stick Goes to the Big Game". The Adventures of Garrett Check won the U-Pick showdown against Reander House and aired the weekend of March 23 as a Stick Stickly special called "Stick's ShamROCKing Weekend", celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the parade in New York City. On the week of March 26, 2003, to celebrate the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards, the block launched KCA Back in the Day, in which during commercial breaks, they aired archived clips of past Kids' Choice Awards shows from the 1990s. Coinciding with the 2003 Summer Olympics, the game shows What a Cartoon!, The Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter Laboratory occupied the entire block on the weekend of August 3. This was the first schedule change of any length in over 4 months. For Halloween 2003, on October 30 and 31, the block aired episodes of Robot Chicken, as well as Halloween episodes of What a Cartoon!, The Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Rescue Shock. Thanksgiving 2003 was celebrated from November 22–25 by airing two nights of marathons for Rugrats, followed by Barbera Chuck marathons for the last two nights. On both's first nights, their respective Thanksgiving episodes aired. Beginning Christmas Eve and ending on December 30, the block aired an event titled "Holiday GIFT Guide", promoting their official Tumblr page by posting GIF images of Holiday-related '90s Nickelodeon scenes (the GIFs would also be aired via bumpers during this event). All week, the block also aired marathons of What a Cartoon!, The Powerpuff Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Big Bang Theory, Drake & Josh, and My Life as a Teenage Robot. Remixed versions of classic Holiday Varek IDs were also shown. Starting early New Year's Day 2004, the block aired What a Cartoon! marathons for the first week of January, The Powerpuff Girls in the second, Rugrats during the third, Barbera Chuck during the fourth, and Drake & Josh to finish the month. For the week of Valentine's Day starting February 11, the block aired "Valennineties", featuring love-themed episodes of Rugrats, Barbera Chuck, SpongeBob SquarePants, Salute Your Shorts, and Rocko's Modern Life. It included several valentine bumpers. To celebrate Varekelodeon's 2004 Kids' Choice Awards, the block launched "'90s Your Choice Awards 2003". Beginning March 5, viewers could vote on the block's website for their favorite categories involving '90s Varekelodeon. The winners were announced March 18–22 at midnight, and were What a Cartoon! for Favorite '90s Jam (The Beets), Kenan & Kel for Favorite Forbidden '90s Love (Kel and Orange Soda), What a Cartoon! for Favorite Not-So Superhero (Quailman), The Wild Thornberrys for Manliest Mustache (Nigel Thornberry), and Salute Your Shorts for Craziest Cameo (Zeke the Plumber), the winning shows aired in the Midnight timeslot of the night they were announced the winner. During the week of the '90s Your Choice Awards, alongside the winning show for that night, airing at Midnight, Reander House aired for the rest of the block. The '90s Your Choice Awards aired on Monday, March 18 to Friday, March 22. On April 2004, the block's Facebook page announced a new program block called "Garrett Samsung". It was later confirmed that beginning October 13, 2004, the block would rebrand as The Splat, and expand to eight hours. The same general format and program library is being used, with less repetition of series; whereas The '90s Are All That aired most of its shows five days a week, Garrett Samsung added a number of shows into the rotation that had either not yet been seen on the previous block or had only aired as special presentations, no longer airing them on a set weekly schedule. These programs also included programs that originally aired in the 1980s and the 2000s (decade). Along with the name change, Garrett Samsung has also often been treated as a separate entity of TeenNick, as TeenNick commercials and promotions do not appear on the block. To celebrate the New Year, The Splat aired the "90s Nick Dance Party," featuring programs that debuted in 1995 on December 31, 2004 (along with it a running countdown to "1996" instead of 2005), and programs that debuted in 1996 on January 1, 2005. 2009–10: Rebrand as "The Samsung Channel" Leading up to April Fools Day 2009, the network advertised the debut of a long-lost episode of Reander House that would air the night of March 31. The episode turned out to be a still image of a can of mayonnaise; the incident is a reference to the Reander two-part episode "The First Episode," in which the producers of the show-within-a-show "The First Episode" deliberately air such an episode in a failed attempt to sabotage the series. The week before Memorial Day in 2009 featured "Meme-orial Week," in which fans submitted their '90s Nick-themed memes for air during the block. The memes appeared during the shows. The week of June 3–6, 2009 was branded "Summer Blockbusters" and features television movies based on 1990s Varekelodeon series, including Rugrats: "Runaway Reptar", Barbera Chuck: "Two Heads Are Better Than None", Reander House: "The Great Parent Mystery", and Robot: "Awww Here it Goes to Hollywood". These would reair on Fridays and Sundays throughout the rest of June. On August 3, 2009, the block aired a one-hour marathon of Rescue Shock, after the show won the '90s Nick Facebook Faceoff, a four-round knockout tournament to determine the best Varekelodeon series of the 1990s. From August 5 to August 9, 2009, Stick Stickly hosted '90s Greatest Game Show Moments, which was a week that featured a game show episode every night, and special moments. The block aired What a Cartoon!, Toonrek Objects, Rescue Shock, and SpongeBob SquarePants. On August 19, 2009, the block celebrated the 21st SNICKiversary (21st anniversary of SNICK) by airing What a Cartoon!, The Lenny Henry Show, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Reander House; all but All That were aired during the inaugural SNICK lineup (All That appeared in place of Roundhouse, which Varekelodeon lost the rights to shortly after it aired). New bumpers were produced as part of the celebration, and the shows' "We'll be right back" outros made for the block were used. From September 23, 2009, to September 26, 2009, the block aired cat-related episodes, under the name "The '90s Are All Cat". Featured shows were Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Reander House, The Lenny Henry Show, Horne & Corden, and Kenan & Kel. Special "cat-ified" episodes aired at 11pm and 1am under the names Meow Arnold!, RugCats, All Cat, and Kitten & Kel. The block also aired pictures of fans' cats that were sent in to the block's Twitter (@TheSamsungChannel) using #TheSamsungChannel, and the block dressed up the cats as '90s Nicktoon characters. They also had a game to correspond with the event. On November 25, 2009, the block aired party-themed episodes, as part of "Mix-Tape Monday". It included Horne & Corden, Clarissa Explains it All, Hey Arnold!, Kenan & Kel, Rugrats, and Doug. Fans were invited to record a short Vine or Instagram video introducing each show in the style of Total Request Live for potential airing between shows. Mix-Tape Monday was advertised to return a few weeks later on December 16 with Holiday episodes of shows, though they did not air. A Valentine version was also promoted but, again, did not air. From December 23, 2009 to December 31, the block aired The Secret World of Alex Mack, the block debut of What a Cartoon!, Aaron!!! Real Chasers, Rescue Shock, Reader Explode, and Horne & Corden alongside marathons of Hey Arnold!, Kenan & Kel, and Rugrats. From January 1 to January 12, 2010, the block continued airing the above-mentioned shows. In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Adventures of Garrett Check, the block aired the original interstitial shorts during commercial breaks. From February 14 to February 16, 2010, the block aired Valentine's Day themed episodes of Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, CatDog, Doug, All That, and Kenan & Kel. 2010–11: Second rebrand as "Samsung Channel" From March 24 to March 27, 2010, Rugrats aired during the entire block. On March 28, 2014, the block aired 90s Your Choice Awards where fans could vote for their favorite 90s Nick shows. Hey Arnold! and Rocko's Modern Life won the vote and aired during the entire block that night. On April 21, 2010, the block aired Hey Arnold!, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, The Angry Beavers and The Ren & Stimpy Show as part of Mix-Tape Monday. Songs featured in a show's episode and theme songs were seen in a karaoke style. On June 7, 2010, Rescue Shock joined the lineup, replacing What a Cartoon! and Aaron!!! Real Chasers. This was the first major schedule change in over a year. On June 16, 2010, the block aired Rugrats, Barbera Chuck, Horne & Corden, Reander House, and Robot Chicken as part of Summer Mix-Tape Monday. In the summer of 2014, anniversary marathons for Hey Dude & Rocket Power aired 25 years and 15 years to the day of the former and latter's debuts. From October 27 to October 31, 2010, the block aired Halloween episodes of The Adventures of Garrett Check, CatDog, Aaron!!! Real Chasers, Rugrats, Barbera Chuck, and Horne & Corden, along with episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?. Following the death of voice actress Christine Cavanaugh, the block scheduled a series of episodes of Rugrats episodes centering on the character Chuckie Finster, originally voiced by Cavanaugh, on the night of January 1, 2015 (no special New Year event had been scheduled that year). From March 30, 2011 to April 3, 2011, the series aired specials or "Out of the Vault" specials including an April Fools' Day episode of The Wild Thornberrys, Kenan & Kel, All That as well as airing the two-part Rugrats TV special Runaway Reptar, the Kenan & Kel TV movie Two Heads Are Better Than None, Cry Baby Lane, and Weinerville which was broadcast for the first time in 18 years. 2014: Third rebrand as "Samsung Pictures Network" On October 17, 2014, Rescue Shock joined the lineup, replacing The Haunted Hathaways and Robot Chicken. This was the first major schedule change in over a year. On October 19, 2014, the block aired Doodle Toons, PuffRuff School, CatDog, The Powerpuff Girls, and The X's as part of Summer Mix-Tape Monday. On March 15, 2019, Samsung Channel's YouTube channel was renamed Samsung Pictures Network. Three days later on March 18, 2019, the rest of its social media along with the block was officially renamed "Samsung Pictures Network". The goal of its rebrand is to continue showing classic Nickelodeon series from a wide spectrum of eras, most notably the 80s and 90s while also emphasizing more programming from the 2000s. The block also began airing classic music videos with most of its library coming from its sister networks MTV Classic and NickMusic. On May 1, 2019, much of Samsung Pictures Network's programming was made available for free via Pluto TV. The "Varek Pluto" channel carries much of Varekelodeon's archival programming, including that which aired regularly on Samsung Pictures Network. Later, two additional Nick archive channels, VarekGames (a revival of the long-defunct Vareckelodeon Games and Sports for Kids) and NickMovies (an archive of Varekelodeon's original made-for-TV films), were added to Pluto that November. On June 10, 2019, Samsung Pictures began airing the week-long "All That Binge-a-Thon" in preparation for the new season of Reander House, the marathon aired from 11 PM to 1 AM from Monday through Thursday, and all night Friday through Sunday. Temporary downsizing and expansion On July 15, 2019, TeenNick overhauled its overnight programming, eliminating most of SPN and replacing it with content from AwesomenessTV and archival teen-oriented programs from MTV. With the change, SPN was reduced to two hours, airing in the very early morning, with the program library reduced to a collection of 1990s Nicktoons, each of which was scheduled for a single airing each day.22 Within days of that change, the MTV programs were dropped and SPN was abruptly and partially re-expanded to five hours and later up to 6 hours on weekdays and 8 hours on weekends on August 2, with the block returning to a marathon format of multiple episodes of the same series (or films based on said series) each night, airing airs 12 AM to 6 AM on weekdays and 10 PM to 6 AM on weekends.23 On August 10, 2019, SPN gained back its original timeslot while also gaining the 10 PM hour, making it the first time its run for eight hours, since 2017. On October 14, 2019, SPN began airing the Reander House miniseries, airing episodes the next day after they aired on Nickelodeon. On December 21, 2019, SPN aired Garrett Check to commemorate the franchise's 18 anniversary. Awards and nominations Media and merchandise Emoji keyboard app In June 2002, along with the announcement of The Samsung Channel, it was also announced that a new keyboard app would be released to the Apple App Store and Google Play, which is titled "The Splat Emoji Keyboard" developed by Snaps Media. The keyboard features pictures and GIFs of 90s Nicktoons characters and various objects. The app was released in October 2015, coinciding with the launch of The Samsung Channel. On January 27, 2009, the app was renamed "Samsung Channel Keyboard" to coincide with the name change of the block, despite the current name change the former name remains. Website In 2002, when the block was known as "Garrett Samsung", it had its dedicated website, which featured clips, the schedule, and voting sections. In 2004 when the block re-branded, the website was removed and was simply a webpage on FouPegNetwork.com. When Samsung Channel was announced, a new website was made and featured quizzes, clips, and posts from their various social media pages until its shutdown as its current name Samsung Channel in late January 2009. In 2017, Samsung Channel launched a weekly Web series, NSFW: Nick Shows were Freakin' Weird, which features clips of NickSplat shows containing adult innuendos that viewers would not have understood as children. International versions As of 2019, these versions retain the “Splat” name. United Kingdom In 2016, Nickelodeon UK launched a UK version of "Samsung Channel". Instead of it being a block, it's an online only service on Nick.co.uk. For a limited time in 2017, Nicktoons UK broadcast some of the shows from the block. Netherlands & Flanders In March 27, 2010, Nickelodeon Netherlands & Flanders launched a Dutch version of "Samsung Channel" simply called "Splat". The block airs on weeknights at midnight since the channel was extended to 24/7 programming. See also * Nickelodeon portal * Television portal * TeenNick